Character Motivation Thesaurus: To Rescue a Loved One

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

Character’s Goal(Outer Motivation): To Rescue a Loved One From A Captor

Forms This Might Take:

A kidnapping

A cult

An abusive relationship

A prisoner of war

Forced slavery

Human trafficking

A hostage situation

Human Need Driving the Goal(Inner Motivation): Safety and Security

Methods for Achieving This Goal:

Plan an assault on captors in a kill-or-capture scenario

Enlist the help of professionals (police, a hired mercenary, criminals, etc.)

Plan an extraction (break and enter, grab and go)

Infiltrate the group and both escape unnoticed

A pay off (buying the loved one’s safety)

Obtain something important to the captor and force a trade (blackmail)

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal:

research the enemy to determine threat level and weaknesses

travel to the area one’s loved one is being held

arrange a meeting with law enforcement

hire professionals if needed

a reconnaissance of the location

obtain blueprints or fist hand knowledge of the site

track the captor’s movements and habits

invest in weapons and gear if needed

obtain funds needed to pay a ransom

buy information and access to the site (if possible)

create plans for subterfuge to gain access and an escape

obtain something to use for ransom (if applies)

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:

going deep into debt or bankrupt

being captured and tortured

getting others who are helping with the rescue killed

giving up control to someone else (police, someone in charge) who may or may not know what they are doing

keeping control and one’s decision leads t a costly mistake (such as an innocent being killed)

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